China has developed an app that allows conservationists to identify individual pandas using facial recognition technology, state-run Xinhua news agency reported Friday.
Researchers have also built a database with over 120,000 images and 10,000 video clips of giant pandas that would allow them to correctly identify individual animals.
"The app and database will help us gather more precise and well-rounded data on the population, distribution, ages, gender ratio, birth and deaths of wild pandas, who live in deep mountains and are hard to track," Chen Peng, a researcher at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, told Xinhua.
China last year also announced plans to create a bastion for giant pandas three times the size of Yellowstone National Park to link up and encourage breeding among existing wild populations of the notoriously slow-reproducing animal, state media reported.
At least 10 billion yuan (USD 1.6 billion) had been budgeted for the Giant Panda National ...

China creates app to recognize Pandas

PTI Automatic

At least eight Afghan police were killed in an airstrike during a clash with the Taliban, an official said Friday, in the latest incident of potential friendly fire in the conflict.
Police were fighting the Taliban in Helmand province late Thursday when the Afghan forces called for air support.
"I can confirm an airstrike on the Afghan police, and unfortunately, eight police were killed and 12 others were wounded," Omar Zwak, Helmand provincial government spokesman told AFP.
The death toll was confirmed by interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook. He said 11 more police had been wounded in the strike.
Rahimi said a joint delegation has been appointed to investigate the incident.  Meanwhile, another official -- head of the Helmand provincial council Ataullah Afghan -- gave a different toll, saying 18 Afghan police were killed and 14 others were wounded.
Only Afghan and US forces in Afghanistan conduct airstrikes. There was no immediate comment from US forces.
Afghan and US 

At least 8 Afghan police killed in airstrike: Official

Germany's double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier announced her retirement on Friday at the age of just 25 after struggling with health issues.
"After an unbelievably tough season full of ups and downs, I no longer feel the one hundred percent passion required for professional sport. That's why I have decided to end my active biathlon career," Dahlmeier wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.
She has won seven world championship gold medals, and last year in Pyeongchang she became the first female biathlete to win both the sprint and the pursuit at the same Olympics.
Dahlmeier took a two-month break to recover from illness in October, before returning to win the 12.5km mass start at the World Cup event in Antholz last January.
Fellow German biathlete Magdalena Neuner also retired as a double Olympic champion aged 25 in 2012.

Double Olympic biathlon champion Dahlmeier retires aged 25

Santi Cazorla discovered his remarkable comeback had taken him into the Spain squad for the first time since 2015 when his team-mates chanted his name on Friday.
"I found out from my team-mates," the midfielder said. "After training I heard them chanting my name and I didn't know why. That was when they started congratulating me."
Spain's latest squad announcement also included confirmation that Luis Enrique will not take charge of their upcoming games against the Faroe Islands and Sweden for personal reasons, but he will continue as coach.
Cazorla required numerous operations on knee, foot and ankle injuries that began in 2013, while an aggressive infection in his heel needed a skin graft, extracted from his left forearm.
Told he was lucky to walk again and could have lost his leg, Cazorla chose not to retire, instead moving to Villarreal from Arsenal last year.
The 34-year-old's call-up comes after he was one of Villarreal's stand-out players this season, helping them avoid ...

It's like being called up again for the first time - Cazorla

Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq suffered a nasty-looking injury just weeks away from the start of the World Cup when he was struck a painful blow on the arm by England fast bowler Mark Wood on Friday.
The incident took place in the fourth over of Friday's penultimate international of the five-match series at Trent Bridge when left-handed opener Imam missed an intended pull off an 89 mph delivery from the recalled Wood that hit him on the elbow.
Imam, fresh from his career-best 151 in the third ODI at Bristol on Tuesday, fell to the ground and winced on the turf in the agony.
The 23-year-old nephew of Pakistan great and selection chief Inzamam-ul-Haq then had several minutes' treatment before retiring hurt on three not out, with the tourists then nine without loss.
World Cup hosts and tournament favourites England lead this five-match series 2-0.

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq in World Cup injury scare

World number three Roger Federer pulled out of the Italian Open before his quarter-final match on Friday with a right leg injury.
Federer, a four-time Rome finalist, had been due to meet Greek eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the semi-finals.
The Swiss 20-time Grand Slam winner was playing in Rome to prepare for his return to the French Open for the first time since 2015.
"I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today," said Federer.
"I am not 100 percent physically and after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play.
"Rome has always been one of my favourite cities to visit and I hope to be back next year."
Federer had been on court nearly four hours on Thursday as competitors played two matches after rain delays midweek.
The 37-year-old saved two match points to win through 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) against Borna Coric to advance to the quarter-finals after earlier easing to a straight sets win over Portgual's Joaa Suosa.
The former world ...

Roland Garros-bound Federer limps out of Italian Open

The UN said Friday it has registered more than 250,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, providing many with their first ever identification cards and proof of their right to return to Myanmar in the future.
The UN refugee agency also said the registration could serve as a tool for law enforcement to help counter human trafficking.
"Over a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have now been jointly registered and provided with identity cards by Bangladesh authorities and UNHCR," spokesman Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.
Some 740,000 Rohingya refugees fled a military crackdown in August 2017 to cross into Bangladesh where 300,000 members of the persecuted Muslim minority were already in camps.
Many Rohingya refugees who fled said there had been mass rapes and slaughters in the villages, and in a report published last September, the fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe the atrocities amounted to "genocide".
UNHCR puts the number of ...

Some 250,000 Rohingya refugees receive first ID cards: UN

Six European consumer rights associations said Friday they have asked national authorities to look into illegal practices by firms using the AliExpress site of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Buyers in European countries enjoy the right to return goods within two weeks and get clear warranty information about the minimum 2-year warranty period, rules that platforms that host third-party sellers have sometimes found difficult to enforce.
Consumer rights groups in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain asked their national regulators to look into practices on AliExpress, which mostly hosts Chinese sellers.
"If Alibaba wants to trade on the European market, it must respect the rules that apply here. That is not negotiable," said Sandra Molenaar, head of the Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond.
The Consumentenbond also noted that AliExpress' terms and conditions force consumers to go to arbitration in Hong Kong if they have any dispute, while EU ..

Alibaba faces consumer complaints in Europe

A Turkish court on Friday handed down life sentences to 14 people convicted of planning a deadly 2016 attack outside a stadium in Istanbul, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Forty-seven people were killed in the attack near the Vodafone Arena when a car bomb hit a police vehicle and a suicide bomber blew himself up after a football match for one of Istanbul's biggest clubs, Besiktas.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a radical Kurdish group with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), claimed responsibility.
A court in Silivri on the outskirts of Istanbul sentenced four defendants to aggravated life sentences on charges of "a planned murder and bombing", and 10 others on charges of "aiding murder", Anadolu said.
Aggravated life sentences carry harsher prison conditions.
Four other defendants received prison sentences of up to 15 years for "membership in a terror organisation," it added.
Turkey suffered a wave of attacks in 2016 by Kurdish separatists ...

Turkey court hands life sentences to 14 over 2016 attack: report

Syria called Friday on all parties to exercise "restraint" in the Gulf as its ally Iran comes under mounting pressure from the United States, state media said.
"The Syrian government calls on all sides to exercise restraint because escalating tensions in the Gulf would not benefit countries in the region," state news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.
"Dialogue... would undoubtedly reduce tensions and would ensure stability, security and peace," the source said.
Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf citing alleged threats from Tehran.
The ministry source underlined Syria's rejection of any attempt to disrupt Gulf shipping, after four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in still unexplained sabotage attacks in the nearby Sea of Oman on Sunday.
Iran's region rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have invited France, Norway and the United States to join an inquiry into the attacks, which ...

Syria urges 'restraint' as US-Iran tensions soar

A German museum said Friday it would return to Namibia a 15th-century navigation landmark erected by Portuguese explorers, as part of Berlin's efforts to face up to its colonial past.
"The restitution of the Stone Cross of Cape Cross is a clear signal that we are committed to coming to terms with our colonial past," said Culture Minister Monika Gruetters.
"For too many decades, the colonial time has been a blind spot in our remembrance culture." Placed in 1486 on the western coast of what is today Namibia, the Stone Cross was once considered to be such an important navigation marker that it featured on old world maps.
In the 1890s, it was removed from its spot on Cape Cross and brought to Europe by the region's then German colonial masters.  Since 2006, it has been part of a permanent exhibition of the German Historical Museum in Berlin.
But in June 2017, Namibia demanded the restitution of the cross, which stands 3.5 metres (11 feet) high and weighs 1.1 tonnes.
The return of the ...

Germany to return 15th-century seafarer Cross to Namibia

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira, the Vatican said Friday in a statement.
The bishop is under investigation for alleged extortion of priests in his diocese, and the covering-up of sexual abuse cases, according to Brazilian media reports.
Dias de Oliveira allegedly protected a priest accused of clerical abuse.
The bishop confessed to police in April that he had swiped USD 4,000 (3,580 euros) from parish funds for personal use, telling them he did so because he was having financial difficulties, the reports said.
The Vatican always announces when Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop, but never explains why.
The Catholic Church has been rocked by a global clerical paedophilia scandal, with victims coming forward in countries ranging from Australia to Chile, Germany and the US.
Francis passed a landmark new measure this month to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Church to report it to their superiors, in a move ...

Pope accepts resignation of Brazilian bishop: Vatican

A joint statement from the embassies of 29 mostly Western countries in Bucharest, as well as the European Commission, urged Romania on Friday to protect its LGBTI citizens from discrimination.
"On the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, we express our solidarity with all marginalised groups in Romania, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual characteristics," said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the British Embassy.
"LGBTI persons continue to face discrimination... We believe that only when diversity is appreciated and supported can a country achieve its full potential,, the statement added.
Romania ranks 25th out of the 28 EU countries for progress in eliminating discriminatory legislation and hate speech against LGBTI people, according to the ILGA-Europe network of rights groups.
Only Bulgaria, Poland and Latvia have a worse raking in the European Union.
Romania's left-wing government was ...

Embassies urge Romania to protect LGBTI community

Beijing hit back Friday at concerns voiced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over Hong Kong's plans to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, accusing Washington of an attempt to "intervene" in the city's internal affairs.
Hong Kong's government is pushing a bill through the city's legislature which would allow case-by-case extraditions to any jurisdictions it doesn't have an already agreed treaty with, including mainland China.
Historically the city has balked at mainland extraditions because of the opacity of China's criminal justice system and its liberal use of the death penalty.
The extradition plan has sparked huge protests and mounting alarm within Hong Kong's business and legal communities -- as well as foreign governments -- who fear it will hammer the semi-autonomous financial hub's international appeal.
Pompeo "expressed concern" about the bill and its potential to undermine rule of law in the city during Thursday talks in Washington, a State Department spokeswoman .

China hits back at Pompeo remarks on Hong Kong extradition treaty

The leader of an Austrian far-right group has confirmed a media report that he had more extensive contact with the suspect behind deadly mosque attacks in New Zealand than previously admitted.
Austrian investigators have been probing the Identitarian Movement Austria (IBOe) after it emerged that its figurehead Martin Sellner received a donation from alleged Christchurch gunman Brenton Tarrant.
So far, Sellner -- whose group is known for its anti-immigration stunts -- had publicly denied having had contact with Tarrant other than sending him a "thank you" email for the 1,500-euro ($1,700) donation received in January 2018.
But public broadcaster ORF reported late Tuesday that the men had in fact exchanged several emails, the last one dating back to July 2018, showing that their contact was "longer and more intensive".
In reply to Sellner's "thank you" message, Tarrant said it had only been a small contribution in comparison to the work that Sellner was doing.
In a further exchange, ...

Austria far-right figure admits e-mails with NZ attack suspect

The US navy chief said Wednesday he did not want maritime tensions with China to "boil over", a week after Washington's latest challenge to Beijing's territorial claims in contested waters.
Beijing said last week two American warships sailed near disputed islands in the South China Sea without permission, prompting the Chinese Navy to ask them to leave.
The ships entered waters adjacent to Gaven and Chigua reefs in the Spratly Islands, which Beijing calls Nansha, on May 6, China's foreign ministry said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a maritime security conference in Singapore, Admiral John Richardson said Washington will continue such operations which are aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation.
The US will however ensure that communications with Beijing remain open to prevent any untoward incidents, he added.
"I really value the channel of communication that I have with Shen Jinlong," he told reporters, referring to his Chinese counterpart.
"We just recently visited China, we had a ...

US navy chief does not want China tensions to 'boil over'

Beijing has broadened its block of online encyclopedia Wikipedia to include all language editions, reported an internet censorship research group, ahead of the country's most politically explosive anniversary.
According to a report by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), China started blocking all language editions of Wikipedia last month.
Previously, most editions of Wikipedia -- besides the Chinese language version, which was reportedly blocked in 2015 --  were available, OONI said in their report.
AFP could not open any of Wikipedia's versions in China on Wednesday.
"At the end of the day, the content that really matters is Chinese-language content," said Charlie Smith, the pseudonym of one of the co-founders of Greatfire.org, which tracks online censorship in China.
"Blocking access to all language versions of Wikipedia for internet users in China is just symbolic," he told AFP. "It symbolises the fear that the Chinese authorities have of the truth." Wikimedia ...

China blocks all language editions of Wikipedia

Former Ivory Coast and Belgium manager Marc Wilmots has arrived in Tehran and is set to sign a three-year deal as national coach, state news agency IRNA reported.
The official agency said Iran football federation president Kami Rita Sherpa had confirmed the deal and the former Belgian striker would sign a contract later Wednesday.
It said the 50-year-old who was capped 70 times for his country was expected to sign on until the end of the 2022 World Cup for a fee of USD 1.2 million a year.
He replaces Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz who stepped down after eight years in charge in January following Iran's semi-final exit in the Asian Cup when they went down 3-0 to Japan.
He led Iran to two World Cup finals and extended his contract to 2019 after the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Wilmots guided Belgium into the 2014 World Cup during his stint as coach with them between 2012-2016.
He took charge of Ivory Coast in 2017 but parted company after failing to qualify the west Africans for the 2018 

Belgium's Wilmots to coach Iran - report

A US embassy staffer denied espionage charges as his trial resumed in Istanbul on Wednesday - part of a growing rift between Washington and Ankara.
Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen and liaison for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was arrested in 2017.
He was accused of contacts with police and a prosecutor suspected of ties to US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says ordered an attempted coup in 2016.
Topuz has denied all allegations against him and told the court on Monday that all his contacts were "part of my job", an AFP reporter said.
"I am not a decision maker. I have done what I was ordered to do" by my boss at the DEA, he said.
His defence lawyer presented a list of his phone calls with police, saying they were entirely work-related.
US embassy and consular officials, who have dismissed the charges as being without merit, were also at the courthouse to observe proceedings.
The trial comes at a time when the NATO allies are increasingly at odds over .

US embassy staffer espionage trial resumes in Turkey

Eleven women allegedly paid to be surrogate mothers have been released on bail after agreeing to keep the babies, Cambodia's trafficking czar said Wednesday, as the poor Southeast Asian nation seeks to regulate the womb-for-hire trade.
The women were charged in November with human trafficking and acting as intermediaries for surrogacy agents after they were discovered in a raid on a house in the capital Phnom Penh.
They have been in custody since the raid, with some giving birth behind bars.  Cambodia issued a snap ban on commercial surrogacy in 2016 after neighbouring Thailand pulled the plug on the trade the previous year -- putting an abrupt end to a thriving industry for hopeful parents, many from Australia and the US.
An Australian nurse who ran a surrogacy clinic was jailed for 18 months, and quietly released last year after the term was served.
But demand for commercial surrogacy remains high after China eased its one-child policy and shadow markets in Cambodia continue to ...

Cambodian surrogates freed after agreeing to keep babies

San Francisco has banned the use of facial recognition by police and government agencies, the first US city to take such a step as privacy fears mount in the country's technology capital.
Backers of the legislation argued that using software and cameras to positively identify people is, as city councillor Aaron Peskin put it, "not ready for prime time." All but one of the nine members of San Francisco's board of supervisors endorsed the legislation, which will be voted on again next week in a procedural step not expected to change the outcome.
"The propensity for facial recognition technology to endanger civil rights and civil liberties substantially outweighs its purported benefits," read the legislation passed Tuesday.
Facial recognition could "exacerbate racial injustice and threaten our ability to live free of continuous government monitoring," it added.
The ban was part of broader legislation setting use and auditing policy for surveillance systems, creating high hurdles and ...

AFP

AFP

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